The End Brings a New Start
by CodeBleach
Summary: Naruto leaves Konoha. What happened to make him leave and what will he do now? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

The End Brings a New Start

I know this does not follow the actual series plot. All characters belong to and are copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto. Takes place almost 1 year after Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya.

Chapter 1

A young blonde shinobi jumped from roof to roof in Konoha to his destination on a pleasant sunny day. Uzumaki Naruto, 15 (almost 16) years old, could not wait until he reached the Hokage's tower. Tsunade, the Godaime, had told Naruto to come to her office the other day.

_Flashback_

Tsunade and Team Kakashi were in the hospital. Naruto had been severely injured in the fight with Sasuke. However, he would be alright and was cleared to leave the hospital tomorrow. While Naruto was glad about that, he was even happier because finally after 9 tries (missions to retrieve, not all were fights) he had finally brought Sasuke back to Konoha. Sasuke was lying in the bed next to Naruto's bed, unconscious and bandaged up. Neji had closed off Sasuke's chakra, so no one was worried that the Uchiha would try anything when he woke up.

"Naruto!" shouted Tsunade.

"Hai," the blonde replied.

"I have very important matters to discuss with you. Make sure that you are in my office tomorrow morning by 9," said Tsunade.

"Understood," Naruto answered.

_End flashback_

When Naruto entered the Hokage's office he immediately wondered what was going on. Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato, Sai, Shikamaru, Neji, and Shizune were already in the room standing in front of the desk Tsunade was sitting behind.

"Naruto, glad to see you made it on time," said Tsunade.

"No problem. Good morning everyone, but why are you guys here?" Naruto asked confusion evident in his blue eyes.

"Naruto, everyone is here to take part in the matters I am about to discuss," replied Tsunade.

"Oh, so what are the apparently important topics we need to talk about?" asked Naruto.

"First and foremost in light of recent events and nagging from some people," Tsunade said glaring at most of the other people in the room, "I am promoting you to the rank of chunin."

"Chunin? I'm being promoted to chunin… awesome I'm finally a chunin!" shouted an ecstatic Naruto. Everyone in the room smiled for Naruto and were happy for him because they felt it was about time the blonde idiot became a chunin.

"The other matter I want to discuss is Sasuke," Tsunade said after a bit.

At the mention of Sasuke everyone in the room became quiet and intently listened to the Hokage. Naruto had a serious face, while Sakura became tense. Kakashi and everyone else just kept neutral faces.

"I as Godaime Hokage want Uchiha Sasuke executed the moment he wakes up. However, Naruto, Sakura since I know how you two feel about Sasuke I would like your opinion on how to deal with him," Tsunade said.

Naruto and Sakura had become angry when they heard that Sasuke would be put to death, but calmed down when Tsunade said that she wanted their opinion. However, Sakura did not know what to say. The pink-haired kunoichi turned to her comrades for help. She hoped someone would speak up for her former teammate, her former crush.

Naruto was the first to speak up, "Baa-chan, I don't want Sasuke put to death. I would like him to be put under house arrest."

"Tsunade-sama, I second Naruto's proposition," spoke Sakura.

"Anyone else?" asked Tsunade. Everyone else agreed with Naruto and Sakura.

"(Sigh) very well, Sasuke will be put under house arrest. It will be for the rest of his ninja career and an ANBU will escort him everywhere he goes except to the bathroom. No arguments, this discussion is over," Tsunade said.

Everyone nodded at that and left the office except for Naruto and Sakura.

"Thank you, master," said Sakura. "Yea, thanks for listening to us," Naruto added.

With that the two left the office. Tsunade hoped that the decision was the right one.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After walking outside a certain blonde ninja and his pink-haired teammate had decided to go visit Sasuke in the hospital. It turns out that the Uchiha was still unconscious and would probably remain that way for quite awhile. Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke's bed staring and hoping that he would wake up soon. Naruto stood next to her wishing for the same thing. After a while both left to do other activities like get something to eat.

"Ahh, Sakura-chan would you like to go eat a late lunch with me?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Fine, as long as you pay and no ramen," replied Sakura.

"Ehhhh? Since I'm paying I get to pick what we eat," Naruto whined.

"Then go eat by yourself," Sakura said turning away from the boy next to her in annoyance.

"Ahhhh, Sakura-chan that's not what I meant. Why don't you pick the restaurant we go to," Naruto quickly said hoping she wouldn't leave. "Alright, then I pick _Sennen Grill_."

Naruto and Sakura made their way to _Sennen Grill_, Chouji's favorite restaurant for BBQ. Sitting at a table the two ordered their food and talked while waiting for the meat and vegetables to arrive.

"Sakura-chan I finally kept it," a happy Naruto said. "I finally kept my promise to bring Sasuke back for you."

"Mmmm, you sure did Naruto. Arigatou, truly thank-you," Sakura said.

At that moment their food arrived. Naruto and Sakura started to cook the meat and ate the salad while they waited for the savory pork. They chatted about other things for the rest of the meal. Sakura found that she was enjoying the time with Naruto. She knew that they had become closer ever since he came back from his 2 and a half year training with Jiraiya, but never realized how close. At least that's what Sakura thought, but deep down she unconsciously knew that it went back far longer than that. It probably went back to when Naruto had saved her from Gaara during the Chunin Exams. A small spark had formed in her heart that said she loved Uzumaki Naruto, but didn't know about it because of all the concern and attention for Sasuke. Naruto on the other hand was wondering what would happen now that Sasuke was back. He hoped Sakura wouldn't act the same way for him before he left. His train of thought was interrupted by Sakura.

"Naruto I really enjoyed lunch today. Would you like to go out with me again tomorrow?" Sakura asked with a slight blush on her face. Naruto oblivious to the blush and shocked at what Sakura had just said and asked could only stammer "Ye-ye-yeah, I would _love_ to."

"Arigatou Naruto! Lets have dinner and a movie, say 6?" Sakura asked.

"That sounds perfect," was the reply. Inside Sakura's head Inner Sakura was shocked at the moment. "Shannaro! What the hell are you doing? You know Sasuke-kun is the only one for us."

"But Naruto is so much nicer than Sasuke-kun and he really cares for me," countered Sakura.

"Fine, do what you want, but don't complain if something happens. Shannaro!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sakura's date with Naruto the next day went well and had ended with the two of them kissing. In fact it went so well she asked Naruto for another date and another until two weeks later the two became a couple (No they did not do anything perverted). For Naruto this was just about the happiest time of his young life. The girl of his dreams was his girlfriend, Sasuke was back and had woken up last week, although still bedridden, and Jiraiya, or Ero-sennin as Naruto liked to call him, told him that he was going to the successor to the title of _Gama Sennin_ (Toad Sage). To Naruto it seemed like his life was perfect and his luck had finally changed. The only other thing he wanted was to be Hokage, but he knew that would come with time. Tsunade and everyone else were shocked that they were a couple, but got over it. They were genuinely happy for them. A certain Hyuuga heiress was not happy at first, but got over it and ended up with Kiba.

Three months after Naruto and Sakura became a couple Naruto was promoted again to jounin. The now 16 year old was pleased with that because of all the missions he had been doing lately. Sakura hugged her boyfriend when he told her the news and congratulated him. Sakura had good news herself; Sasuke was finally fully healthy again.

"We should go see him at his apartment, Naruto," Sakura said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to tell him about all the missions, training, and my promotion."

The happy couple went to Sasuke's apartment and found an Uchiha still unhappy about his predicament, his jutsu and Sharingan sealed away. The ANBU that followed Sasuke was nowhere to be seen as he/she was to watch and tail Sasuke inconspicuously. Sasuke was not pleased with the company he had. However, Naruto had to leave because a messenger told him to see Tsunade immediately.

"Sakura-chan I have to go, but don't worry I'll be back as soon as I can," Naruto said before kissing her and leaving.

"Be careful, Naruto," Sakura said after the kiss was broken and he left. Sasuke saw this and smirked. "So you and Naruto really love each other huh? Pathetic."

"Yes, I really love him and take that back. Naruto is sweet, kind, strong, brave, and would risk his life for me. He has showed me what it is like to truly love and be loved, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said angrily.

Really thought Sasuke as an idea came to him. Quickly closing the distance between Sakura and himself, Sasuke pulled the pink haired girl close to him and kissed her on the lips. Sakura was shocked and tried to push him off, but found that somehow she couldn't.

"STOP Sasuke-kun, I'm Naruto's girlfriend," yelled Sakura twisting her head around so he couldn't kiss her. In response Sasuke took one of his hands, held her head in place, and kissed her again. This time Sakura could not resist and kissed him back.

Inner Sakura was having a party. "Shannaro, YES! Our dream boy has finally admitted he likes me. SHANNARO!"

After Sasuke broke the kiss Sakura fell to her knees. All her feelings for Sasuke came rushing back now that he finally showed that he did care about her and Naruto and her feelings for him was momentarily forgotten. She started to think about all the times she had with Sasuke and Naruto. "Naruto? Naruto! I almost forgot about him."

Remembering Naruto, Sakura became angry and was about to murder Sasuke when he spoke, "Sakura I love you."

The pink haired girl was shocked and shocked beyond imagination. Her longtime crush had just said he loved her.

"I-I-I, I love you too Sasuke-kun. My feelings for you never went away even when you left me on that bench all those years ago," Sakura said.

She hung her head down not knowing what she was going to do. On one hand was Naruto, her boyfriend, the person who was always by her side and on the other was the person she loved ever since she saw him. Even though he never showed her any affection back and constantly rejected her, Sakura still loved Sasuke.

She knew that deep down and while she was dating Naruto, Sakura hoped that somehow those feelings would go away and Sasuke would never say he loved her. However, that didn't happen and here Sakura was, in Sasuke's apartment saying she loved him. She made her choice.

"Sasuke-kun I've chosen you. I love you, but what about Naruto?" Sakura asked. "I don't know to break this to him gently."

"Just tell him. There is no way to gently break this and you know that. The only thing is to try and make him understand your choice," replied the dark haired boy.

Meanwhile a certain blonde haired shinobi had received his mission from Tsunade. He was to go to Suna on an important political mission, A-ranked. Naruto left the Hokage tower. He was walking down the street looking for Sakura when he saw something that shocked him. Sakura was walking towards him and with her was Sasuke. However, the thing that made Naruto's eyes widen in shock was that Sasuke had one of his arms wrapped around Sakura's waist.

"Naruto! Naruto! I have something important to tell you," Sakura said in a strained voice. "What is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked hoping it was not what he thought it was.

"I'm sorry, but Sasuke-kun and I are dating now. I love him more than anything. I'm sorry Naruto. I know we were dating, but I want to be with Sasuke," Sakura said. "Can you forgive me?" Sakura asked in a low voice filled with regret and sorrow.

Naruto just stared at Sakura. He was shaking and his heart felt like it had been shattered into a million or more pieces. Then Naruto glared at Sakura and something inside of him just snapped, he didn't know what and didn't care, he just started to scream at her,

"Forgive you? FORGIVE YOU? **FORGIVE YOU? YOU** **COME** **TO** **ME** **HOLDING HANDS WITH SASUKE AND CASUALLY TELL THAT YOU LOVE SASUKE, NOT ME AND WANT, NO, EXPECT FORGIVESS?! NO WAY!! YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU LOVE HIM EVEN AFTER HE ABANDONED YOU, HURT YOU, AND NEVER CARED FOR YOU!!** **ION THE OTHER HAND SHOWED YOU I CARED** **AND SAID I LOVED YOU** **AND WAS ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE. YET YOU PICK HIM OVER ME??**"

People on the streets and in nearby buildings were looking at the spectacle before them.

"**HOW DARE YOU ASK FOR MY FORGIVENESS!!NO, NO, NO, NOOO, NOOOOOO, I DON'T FORGIVE YOU AND YOU KNOW WHAT I NEVER WILL!! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE, BITCH!! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!! YOU HEAR ME, BASTARD??"**

Sakura was speechless and shocked!! Naruto had never ever talked to her like that no mattered what happened. Sasuke waited until Naruto was done before telling him to just shut up and get over it. Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke and roared at him,

"**YOU SHUT UP! YOU JUST FUCKIN' STOLE THE GIRL I LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART!! DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP!! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!! I WISH I NEVER BROUGHT YOU BACK OR LET YOU LIVE, YOU ASSHOLE!!"**

With that Naruto ran off to the edge of the village as fast as he could. He calmed down while looking for Jiraiya, but couldn't find him so he went back to the Hokage Tower making sure to not run into _them_ again. Sakura had fallen onto the dirt road crying. Sasuke tried to comfort her and she hugged him sobbing into his chest. Some onlookers had sympathy for the girl, while others viewed her having a manipulative, dark heart. Regardless of what they thought they left her alone.

Tsunade had seen and heard the whole thing and was sad. She wondered why, how could her apprentice do this to the young man she viewed as a son. The Hokage thought Sakura had really loved Naruto and didn't care about Sasuke like that anymore. Her thoughts were interrupted by loud, angry knocks.

"Enter," said the blonde haired women, knowing all too well who it would be.

Naruto came through the door, furious, hurt, and broken. His blue eyes that always shined with happiness and warmth were now dark, cold, and distant.

"Baa-chan, do you know where Ero-sennin is," Naruto choked out.

Tsunade looked at the man before her and sighed sympathy towards him. "Yes, I do Naruto. Why do you want to know?"

"I want to go on his journey with him and get away from here. I have nothing left in Konoha, only pain," Naruto answered. Tsunade looked at the boy for a moment before telling him.

"Jiraiya is at his apartment right now getting ready for a mission. Here is the address if you really want to go. I won't stop you from going with that lecherous man."

"Arigatou, baa-chan. Arigatou!" Naruto said before he left.

When Naruto reached Jiraiya's apartment he found out that the pervert was just about to leave. After explaining to him what had happened, with resentment, Jiraiya agreed to let Naruto tag along. He told Naruto that he did know how long they would be gone or when they would return to Konoha, but Naruto said that he didn't care.

The two of them went to the gates and ran into Kakashi and Tsunade.

"So Naruto, you're really going huh?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes," replied Naruto.

"Well good luck and I hope you find happiness out there," Kakashi said putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiling at him. "Ah, arigatou, Kakashi-sensei."

Tsunade wished Naruto and Jiraiya well before they walked away. She and Kakashi watched as Naruto and Jiraiya slowly faded into the horizon.

As Naruto walked and indeed as soon as he saw Sakura and Sasuke together, he cast aside any companionship he had for Sasuke and any feelings he had for Sakura.

Naruto was thinking, "So this is it huh? My feelings for Sakura have actually come to an end and with that can bring a new start…"


End file.
